Realistic or Modern Mad House.

[ChronosDesine]

Aaron saw that Nick was talking to him. But because of the fact that the music in his head just got louder and louder he didn't hear him. So he just stared at Nick with his 'Did-You-Just-Say-Something-Because-I-Didn't-Hear-You-I'm-Listening-To-Elevator-Music-And-Yes-I-Just-Implied-That-Elevator-Music-Is-More-Important-Than-Talking-To-An-Idiot-And-Yes-I-Just-called-You-An-Idiot' expression for a second. After that he just turned his head to stare straight ahead of him. For some reason he just knew that Nick called him princess. And if Nick refused to call him by his real name he would refuse to talk to this guy. Wait... What's his name?

 

[Pine]

Nick tilted his head in mild irritation as the boy just, silent as ever, stared at him, blank as ever. Why am I even surprised? It couldn't be that Aaron hadn't heard him. He considered the possibility that he might be retarded, but dismissed the thought, even being able to acknowledge that was a bit harsh. "I'll take that as a no." Attempting to ignore the other boy, he finished off the rest of his breakfast without another word. He wiped any flakes that may have accumulated around his mouth off and onto the plate before dumping it in the sink. He ran water over it and rubbed his thumb to get any frosting and flakes off of it and down the drain, his hand beginning to turn red from how quickly the water had heated, but otherwise left it there for someone else to take care off, then left to go finish getting ready in the bathroom.

 

[spectro]

Jamie sat quietly next to Fliss and Jodie on the other side of him. "When does the bus come?" She looked at a non existent watch on her wrist.





"It should be soon." She spoke. "You don' have to take Nick being awful to you, you know?-"





"Look, I don't want to talk about any of this situation, especially not with you." Fliss laughed as if the notion of talking about her problems to the likes of Jamie was ridiculous. "I apologised to Nick, and it's up to him if he wants to be friends with me from now on."


"You see, that's what I mean. Why did you have to apologise to him? He doesn't own you." Jamie saw Fliss' eyes widen. He knew he had planted an idea and it was up to her to let it grow.


Fliss shook her head,"I don't want to talk about it."

 

[ChronosDesine]

Aaron walked to the bus-stop after awhile because he didn't want to sit any more. When he got by the bus-stop he saw that there were other people. He just gave them a nod and stared in front of him. Although the elevator music was softer now it still distracted him from the rest of the world.

 

[Trignome]

How long had he been in this place? Standing here in silence, unable to speak. To laugh, to shout, to cry.


White walls, again. They breathed nothing but whispers, faint traces that he couldn't quite hear.


Still he stretched out a hand, tentatively grazing the impassive stone with a fingernail.


The faint scratch he'd made on the cold surface, it wept rivulets of crimson dew.


Even as the droplets stained his waiting palm, no ripple stirred the air.


So peaceful. So calm. So dead. Isadore smiled up at him, gleefully.


"It's nice here, isn't it? You should visit more often, Ninny."


The child patted his hand, then skipped over to the walls.


They were tumbling, crumbling silently to the floor.


Isadore waved, slipping away into the lightness.


He was alone, again, for a very long time.


Standing there, in an arid emptiness.


No walls, only an infinite solitude.


An odd sense of mindlessness.


Weariness settled down.


Onto the ground,


he lay there,


listening


for


...


The shrill cry of an alarm.


Sunlight filtered through the window blinds, and the last, misty recollections of Isadore's dream dispersed from his mind as he sat up, groggily stretching out a hand and swatting around in the general direction of the alarm. Bah...who set this thing for 8? He slid out from under his blankets and walked over to the corner of the room, where his knapsack was seated on a heap of unfolded clothing. Slinging his bag onto his shoulder, Isadore exited the bedroom and made his way downstairs, where he ran into his roommate, figuratively, of course. He waved a hand in greeting. "Hey, Nick! When's the bus going to get here?"

 

[Pine]

Nick's muscles turned rigid at the sight of Isadore at the base of the stairs, pale eyes widening somewhat in a blank stare. Though he couldn't entirely attribute his tension to his roommate, as his last conversation was absolutely no help at all, it seemed that nearly an hour away from him hadn't been enough. "Uh, I don't know," he responded somewhat belatedly. Nick forced himself to move on, swerving around the boy to start heading up the stairs, the relatively typical bounce in his steps ghosted out of him.

 

[Trignome]

What a strange guy... Frowning perplexedly, Isadore turned and watched as his roommate swerved around him and continued up the stairs. Maybe he's not in a chatty mood today. Isadore snorted derisively. He's never in a chatty mood. And so, the boy decided to follow after Nick, if only to determine what was disturbing his roommate so much. He padded silently across the hallway after Nick, then tapped him on the shoulder. "Now, now. What's the problem?" Isadore grinned. "Is it a girl?" Then his grin stretched even wider. "Is it Flossy?"

 

[Pine]

Nick's shoulder stiffened at the boy's touch, only then noticing he had been followed. I really should work on making it less obvious when I'm in a bad mood. Obviously it does nothing to stop people from talking to me. He stopped just outside the bathroom, not entirely sure exactly what was the problem, aside from all the usual things. Either way, he wasn't particularly keen on the idea of venting to Isadore and potentially coming across as angsty or whiny, but he couldn't exactly ignore the other boy. What does he care, anyway? Is he actually concerned? No, probably just nosy.


"You mean aside from having a homicidal maniac for a roommate?" Nick's eyes widened from his scowl upon the realization that he had said this out loud, albeit softly, it was clearly audible. Oh, shit. The boy looked back at him then, a fear suddenly surging through him. He became acutely aware of Isadore, attempting to gauge his reaction as effectively as he could, being that he had absolutely no premonition of what may happen. No, I don't want to talk about that. Especially not now, not like that. He tried to recover, going with the safe assumption that Flossy was Felicity, as it wouldn't be the first strange nickname his roommate had ever come up with. "She's an idiot," he blurted quickly in an effort to make his last comment seem more offhanded. In spite of Nick's attempts to look deadpan with a hint of anger, there was no masking his alarm completely. I'm not an ass. Don't hate me. Don't hate me.

 

[spectro]

"Well, the bus is here." Jamie smiled as the bus came around the corner.





Fliss looked back towards TNLC. She saw no sign of Nick. "One second." She ran back over to the orphanage, maybe to apologise with a little more meaning this time, maybe to just tell him the bus was late, she hadn't figured it out yet. She opened the door and stood at the bottom of the stairs, hearing Nick and and Isadore talking. "That about Flossy?" Isadore said. There was a pause. I hate that nickname. "She's an idiot." Nicks response came down on Fliss hard. She thought they were friends, perhaps she was being annoying and talking to him when he really didn't want to talk to her. "Thanks." She whispered and walked out of the door, making it slam loudly as she shut it. She moved her bag up higher and walked back down to the bus stop. The bus hadn't gone yet. She stepped inside, not knowing if she should scream or cry and then she just let out one big breath and smiled at Jodie, pushing everything out of her mind. "So, what class do you have first?"

 

[ChronosDesine]

Aaron stepped in the bus. He decided to just watch out of the window. Not feeling ready to say goodbye to his elevator-music filled wonderland.

 

[spectro]

"Science, I think." Jodie looked at Felicity who had a glint in her eye, "Are you okay?"





"Perfectly fine." Fliss said without a moments hesitation.





"Yeah, you definitely look fine." Jodie rolled her eyes and stared out of the window.





Oh, Nicholas, what have you done now? Jamie may as well have been rubbing his hands together like a villain from a movie. "Felicity!" He cooed and moved into the seat next to her. "What did Nick do?" He grinned.





"He called me an idiot-Not to my face, no that would have been better. He said it behind my back, he didn't even know I was listening." She shook her head. Why was she getting worked up over this? It's not like he was special...Fliss' thought conflicted over and over again as Jamie pulled her in and stroked her hair. She sat awkwardly in his arms, not knowing whether to feel comforted or weirded out at his sudden advance. The doors into the bus closed and Fliss sighed, knowing this was going to be a long day.

 

[Trignome]

"A homicidal maniac." Isadore chuckled at his roommate's comment. "Do I look like a maniac to you?" He took care not to mention the 'homocidal' part again; it seemed to be a touchy subject with Nick. He looks scared. Of me, maybe, or of what I might do? Before Isadore could reassure the other boy that he wasn't going to reenact a scene from Chainsaw Massacre, Nick blurted out "She's an idiot." Isadore blinked, confusedly. Who is a...? Oh. Oooooooh. "That's not surprising, considering what little I do know of her." He shrugged, grinning as he heard a door slam downstairs. "How much are you willing to bet that was your fiancee just then?"

 

[Pine]

Nick relaxed as much as he could at the moment. No, not right now. Nothing gets this guy mad. That's almost disturbing, too. Still a little jumpy, his head whipped around at a loud bang, but his eyes reverted from widening so upon registering it as a door slam, and turned back to the other boy. He was thankful for the change of topic, though Isadore's comments only served to rekindle his anger, but that was sort of his goal in the first place. Knowing my luck, it probably was her, he groaned internally, glaring at the other boy. "It's not like that. I mean, I don't like her like that at all. Like..." He turned away to ponder this, going into the bathroom and pulling out his toothbrush and paste from the door. "She's new, too, so I kinda' feel an obligation to look out for her, but obviously she doesn't have a shred of respect for herself, so I can't do shit about that." Nick rolled his eyes and shoved the toothbrush in his mouth.

 

[Trignome]

Nick seemed even more irritated by his teasing. Smiling gleefully to himself, Isadore stood in the doorway of the bathroom and waited for his roommate to finish brushing his teeth. This is so very entertaining. I wonder if he's actually upset, or perhaps just trying to hide his crush? Being the self-titled annoyance that he was, Isadore decided to see if he could glean a bit more insight on his roommate's affections. "So you pity her, in a way?" He gave Nick a pointed look as he leaned against the door frame. "Pity is often the ember that ignites the fires of love." Then Isadore's serious expression broke into a wide grin as he watched Nick brush his teeth. "Don't forget to...floss." He couldn't stop laughing.

 

[spectro]

Fliss awkwardly unwrapped herself from Jamie as the bus stopped and climbed off, hoping that Jamie would just leave her alone for the day. She didn't need reminding that Nick thought she was an idiot, and Jamie's glum face definitely did that. She hurried off into the building to homeroom. The bell hadn't gone, but being somewhere with minimal people sounded like the best place to be. She still had a little trouble remembering where it was but if she just went round the corner, it should be there-


It wasn't. Fliss thought she had a great memory, there was proof of it. She hated all of this fuss with Nick. She had never been distracted by something so much. She wondered so much why Nick thought she was an idiot, maybe it was because she forgave Jamie, but when people apologise, that's what you're supposed to do, right? She hadn't had much experience with people before she went to Sunny Brooks. The only people she talked to were her parents and her maid, Rosalie. Even then it was about school or folding sheets. She put her hands to her face as the bell went and leant against the wall as the swarm of people started to flood into the building.

 

[ChronosDesine]

Aaron stepped out of the bus and ran to his classroom. ''Good morning everyone'' Said Aaron with a smile when he walked into the room. Most of the people just smiled, greeted him or looked at him with a 'Why-Are-You-So-Happy-Don't-You-Know-That-It's-Monday? expression on their faces. ''Good morning'' Peter and Matthew smiled at him and the bell ringed. When Aaron grabbed his books out of his bags he realised that he had his first day of work. Kinda weird if you think about it. Because of that Aaron only listened to half of the long and useless speech the teacher gave about why you should listen to the teacher.

 

[Pine]

Pity? Maybe a little, but not really. Oh, I get it, Nick realized as Isadore continued on. Not concern or even being nosy. Just being a twit. The boy tried to ignore him, his mouth foaming as he brushed all the more vigorously, his scowl deepening as he glared at himself in the mirror. However, upon the boy's last comment, he sputtered a little bit. Oh my God did he really just- Nick choked back his laughter at the awful pun, but the other boy's chortling made it all the more difficult. Eventually, he had to spit out all the toothpaste in the sink below. "Piss off." He tried to sound angry, but the laughter in his voice was obvious. Nick twisted the knob to flush everything down with water, the contents swirling into the drain as he knocked the brush roughly against the sink, trying almost desperately to keep a straight face.

 

[spectro]

Fliss was still slumped against the wall when she saw Lydia, he counsellor strolling up to her. She was wearing bright, quirky clothes, no different from the last she had seen her. "Hey Felicity!" She smiled and Fliss rolled her eyes. Leave me alone, please. "How ya doing Hun?" Oh, not Hun. "Hi." Fliss managed to say. "I am fine." She said unconvincingly. "Sweetie, would you like to come to my office, I have hot chocolate." Fliss definitely didn't want to go to Lydia's office, but hot chocolate did sound good. She needed something to warm her up, because she had been stood outside for almost half an hour. "Sure." Lydia put an annoying arm around her.


"So, what's grinding your gears?" Lydia placed a cup of cream and marshmallow topped hot chocolate in front of her. Fliss nodded in thanks. "It's just, am I an idiot?"


"No, not at all! I mean, you have outstanding grades and I don't think that you have ever been in trouble for being naught." Lydia sipped her cup and put it down, leaving a cream moustache behind, trying to make Fliss laugh-it didn't work. "Okay, I'll put it this way, if a guy who seems like a nice guy inside but acts like a complete ass but you think you might like him calls you an idiot, what do you do?" Fliss was almost out of breath at the end of that sentence. "Well, I suppose you tell him that you aren't. Stand your ground and make sure that he knows that you aren't going to be pushed around." Fliss got the feeling that Lydia was all for women standing up for themselves. "Great. Now, please can I go home and sort some things out?" Fliss opened her eyes and tried to make herself cry, Lydia would definitely send her home if she cried.


"Sure honey." Lydia smiled and stood up. "Do you want me to give you a lift?" Fliss shook her head. "I'll get the bus."


Fliss stepped onto the bus and thought over what she was going to say. She was going to tell him that she wasn't an idiot, but that's as far as she had got. She sighed as the bus stopped and let on a herd of passengers.


When the bus finally got to the stop nearest to TNLC, Fliss got off and put her hands in her pockets. She walked down the long path to the orphanage. When she got there, she sighed and opened the door. She walked into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water. She sipped and sat on the couch, waiting for Nick to come in.

 

[ChronosDesine]

The first class went by pretty quickly. At least it felt that way for Aaron. He still was nervous. What if he would screw something up on his first day of work? Would he get fired? Aaron shook his head and decided to just think about different things.

 

[Pine]

In spite of his threat, the likes of which he had not even really meant in the first place, Isadore continued to pay him no heed, perhaps laughing harder than he had ever seen the boy laugh. His chortling was infectious, and the longer is lasted and the more he reflected on the truly horrible joke, the more painful it became for him to hold in his own laughter. Nick pulled his lips into a frowning, forcing them in that position in a steadfast manner, managing to overcome the urge for his countenance to twitch into something more pleasant.


He attempted to furiously brush past the other boy with the bump of shoulders, but in the instant of passing, his composure broke, and the grin revealed itself, if only to have it be crushed in the next moment. Floss... no, no, angry thoughts. Nick continued down the hall, the effort of suppressing his snickering forcing his mouth open into a deep yawn. As he finished with an exhale, he turned his arm to glance over his watch. Nick relaxed his arm back at his side, but quickly brought it back up once what the face of his watch read finally registered in his mind. All jokes were pushed aside as he received the angry thoughts he had been pining for. "Damn it. How does this keep happening?" Was he really so poor with time management that he couldn't even get to school on time? Last week was a different story; he had no excuse now. It was all the events from this whole stupid confrontation, perhaps, that were frustrating him enough to make him waste time like this.


Nick didn't spare another moment contemplating where precisely he had gone wrong. His first class being AP Physics, he was making a big mistake for missing it yet again. He buried his fingernails into his scalp, scratching in irritation and he took quick strides into his room, pushing the door open with a flick of his elbow. The boy snatched his backpack up, the likes of which slumped from all the make up work he had managed to finish, before slipping his arms through the straps on his way out. Nick hooked one thumb under the cheaply padded material, keeping one hand free to loosely grip the rail as he skipped steps on his way down the stairs.


Ugh, but the bus... Don't tell me we're going to have to take a cab again. Slowing so as to make sure that Isadore was finally done giggling to himself and was actually in tow, he edged closer to the kitchen and living room area. Nick patted his back pocket, not finding his wallet there, much to his dismay. He would have to pay Isadore back eventually for all the money he had blown on him, assuming the cab was going to be a thing. He would gladly just run to the school, which may be good to relieve some stress, but he wasn't confident that he knew the way from this new orphanage. Nick finally glanced over at the sound of sipping, if only to find, lo and behold, Felicity sitting on the couch. What the-? Hadn't she-? Oh, whatever. He trained his eyes back up to the stairs in anticipation of the other boy following after him finally. Hurry up.

 

[spectro]

Fliss heard noise behind her. It was the unmistakable sound of footsteps. She prayed that it wasn't nick, she wasn't ready to speak to him yet, but as she turned her head to look towards the front door, there he was, looking rather panicked. Fliss' stomach twisted. She swallowed to rest of her water and stood up. She turned towards him, slowly. Without getting too close, she spoke,"I'm not an idiot." She started, "I was educated in one of the best boarding schools in England." Although that only meant she was educated, she wanted to make her point. "If you believe that I am an idiot, know this; i only forgave Jamie because I haven't been in contact with anyone before. I haven't had to listen to an apology before, so how was I suposed to know if its real or not?" She took a breath,"what I'm trying to say is that I haven't had friends; ever and I thought coming here and to sunny brooks would change that. So, to finish, I am not sorry for accepting Jamie's apology." She stuck her hands in her pocket.

 

[Pine]

Nick kept his arms close to him and didn't look at her even as she spoke, simply radiating that he didn't want to talk to her. Okay dude, seriously hurry. Much to his chagrin, however, she simply continued on, provoking his grimace to deepen. He wondered precisely how much she must have heard of his conversation with Isadore. If she heard me calling him homicidal, she obviously doesn't seem concerned with that. Probably hung over my comment of her being an idiot, just like a girl. Doesn't she know that there are different types of intelligence? How the hell am I supposed to know how she does in school?


Finally, he gave up on summoning Isadore with his gaze alone and looked at her. With the possibility of the other boy listening in on the conversation, he was suddenly acutely aware of all the drama he had managed to catch himself in. After all, she was staying home from school just to continue their argument. This fact, to a certain degree, embarrassed him as much as it frustrated him. Better wrap this up. "Fascinating." He made a point to sound interested. His tone slipping into something more condescending, he continued, "Let me explain something to you. He's not sorry, so that's when you don't accept an apology. See how this works?" That was practically the most basic of common sense. He couldn't believe how much trouble she was having with wrapping her head around this. That, or she was just determined to disregard any piece of advice he had ever or would ever offer.


His anger was getting the better of himself. As continued talking, he cared less and less about how rude he was being. Nick had already resolved that he wouldn't want to touch her with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole if she was going to befriend the other boy, and he supposed it was time he made that clear. "I don't respect your decision, but there's nothing I can do about it. I'm done trying to help you. So, go right ahead, be buddy-buddies with Jamie." A cold smile spread over his lips then. "I hope I'm there to see when it all blows up in your face."

 

[spectro]

Fliss grinned. Nicks response was what she had expected, distant, hiding all emotion but anger. Perhaps he was just angry, but she had no idea why. "I didn't say at any time I want to be friends with him." She sighed and turned to her bag. "I do, however, want to be friends with you. You seem interesting Nick, but the way you hide everything with this big cloak of anger and irritability is hindering my intentions." She turned back to him, her words coming more easily now, her throat no longer dry, "So, if you want to be friends with me, maybe we can work something out. You probably don't want to, but just hear me out. I won't speak to Jamie if that somehow upsets you and any advances he tries to make on me will be rejected with strong words. I have a condition for you, but there is no point in my saying it, if you don't want to accept. Do you want to be friends?" She was pulling on her bag, readying herself for his response, knowing it was probably wither going to be accepting or awfully cruel. If it was the latter, she told herself not to react badly, that she would just walk away and forget the whole thing...maybe.

 

[Pine]

His smile dropped the instant he noticed her own. Nick hadn't considered any potential consequences from his spiel just then, but if he had spared the time to think about it, he certainly wouldn't have expected her to remain so calm. No girl ever reacted like that, it just didn't happen. Nick furrowed his eyebrows, now thoroughly confused. He was somewhat at a loss of what to say. And what am I hiding beneath my big cloak of... what?


Her terms for negotiating a friendship were ideal and what he had wanted in the first place, but it shouldn't be something that had to be discussed. The fact that they had to strike some sort of deal to be friends irked him, and either way, he liked the fluidity that came with never directly stating that he was friends with anyone until he knew them well enough. More than that, she would be ignoring Jamie for all the wrong reasons. He felt rather antagonistic in that position. Nick was silent for some time, still trying to piece together how he should react. Finally he responded, "Make decisions for yourself. I'm not going to force you to do anything."

 

[spectro]

Fliss' eyebrows furrowed. So is that a no? "I will, I always do. I would rather be friends with you than Jamie. Nose rings never really appealed to me anyway." She tried to lighten the mood a little, because the air was getting thick with silence. "Is that a yes then?" She wanted to shake him so he would speak. He was clearly thinking about this decision.